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Portugal and Peacebuilding: Colonial Memories and Contemporary Crossroads João Portugal Vieira January 2009

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Portugal and Peacebuilding: Colonial Memories and Contemporary Crossroads João Portugal Vieira January 2009 IFP Capacity-Building and Training Cluster Country case study: Portugal Portugal and Peacebuilding: Colonial Memories and Contemporary Crossroads João Portugal Vieira January 2009 This initiative is funded by the European Union About IfP The Initiative for Peacebuilding (IfP) is a consortium led by International Alert and funded by the European Commission. IfP draws together the complementary geographic and thematic expertise of 10 civil society organisations (and their networks) with offices across the EU and in conflict-affected countries. Its aim is to develop and harness international knowledge and expertise in the field of conflict prevention and peacebuilding to ensure that all stakeholders, including EU institutions, can access strong independent analysis in order to facilitate better informed and more evidence-based policy decisions. This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of IfP/NEP-CES/FRIDE and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union. To learn more, visit http://www.initiativeforpeacebuilding.eu. ABOUT NEP/CES The Peace Studies Research Group (Núcleo de Estudos Para a Paz, or NEP) of the Centre for Social Studies (CES), assumes peace studies as one of the most important lines of research within the field of critical theories in international relations. Within this framework, the research developed so far has included three main topics: a) a critical view on peacebuilding processes as elements of liberal global governance; b) ‘newest wars’, taking place in micro-territories (urban landscapes) and their crucial economic, cultural and social ingredients; c) small arms regulation, both on the demand and on the supply sides, and the connection between arms culture and gender violence. To learn more, visit http://www.ces.uc.pt/nucleos/nep/. ABOUT FRIDE FRIDE is a think tank based in Madrid that aims to provide the best and most innovative thinking on Europe’s role in the international arena. It strives to break new ground in its core research interests of peace and security, human rights, democracy promotion, and development and humanitarian aid, and mould debate in governmental and non-governmental bodies through rigorous analysis, rooted in the values of justice, equality and democracy. As a prominent European think tank, FRIDE benefits from political independence, a diversity of views and the intellectual background of its international staff. FRIDE concentrates its work in the following areas: Democratisation; Peace, Security and Human Rights; and Humanitarian Action and Development. Since its establishment in 1999, FRIDE has organised and participated in the creation and development of various projects that reinforce not only FRIDE’s commitment to debate and analysis, but also to progressive action thinking. To learn more, visit http://www.fride.org/. Cover image: © Silvia Roque/NEP-CES © Initiative for Peacebuilding 2008 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without full attribution. Portugal and Peacebuilding: Colonial Memories and Contemporary Crossroads 4 • Initiative for peacebuilding Acknowledgments The author would like to thank the Peace Studies Research Group of the Centre for Social Studies (NEP/ CES). www.initiativeforpeacebuilding.eu Portugal and Peacebuilding: Colonial Memories and Contemporary Crossroads • 5 Contents Acronyms 6 Executive Summary 7 Introduction 9 Methodology 10 Portuguese Official Development Assistance 11 Portuguese Approaches to Multilateral Peacebuilding 16 Civil Society: Past and Present 18 Conclusion 22 Recommendations 21 www.initiativeforpeacebuilding.eu 6 • Initiative for peacebuilding Acronyms ACP countries African, Caribbean and Pacific countries CATTL Commissioner for the Support of the East-Timorese Transition CFSP Common Foreign and Security Policy CIDA-C Centre for Information and Documentation Anti-Colonial CIDAC Intervention Centre for the Development of Amilcar Cabral CPLP Community of Portuguese Language Countries CRS Creditor Reporting System CSOs Civil society organisations DAC Development Assistance Committee DCD Development Cooperation Directorate DCI Development Cooperation Instrument ECOMOG Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group ECOSOC United Nations Economic and Social Council EDF European Development Fund ESDP European Security and Defence Policy FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation IEEI Institute for Strategic and International Studies IPAD Portuguese Institute for the Support of Development IPRI Portuguese Institute for International Relations ISU University Solidarity Institute MDGs Millennium Development Goals MNE Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros MoD Ministry of Defence MONUA United Nations Observer Mission in Angola MPLA Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola NEP Peace Studies Group NEPAD New Partnership for Africa’s Development NGOs Non-governmental organisations NGDOs Non-governmental development organisations ODA Official Development Assistance OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development PAMPA Portuguese Support of Peace Missions in Africa Programme PIC Indicative Cooperation Programmes ReCAMP Reinforcement of African Peacekeeping Capacities UNAVEM II Second United Nations Angola Verification Mission UNAVEM III Third United Nations Angola Verification Mission UNIFIL United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon UNITA National Union for the Total Independence of Angola UNMIK Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo UNMIT United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste UNPBC United Nations Peacebuilding Commission UNSCR 1325 United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 www.initiativeforpeacebuilding.eu Portugal and Peacebuilding: Colonial Memories and Contemporary Crossroads • 7 Executive Summary Portugal lies at the periphery of Europe. This geographic reality also portrays the role of the country inside the European institutions. Such an intermediary function between core and periphery countries is especially relevant in the area of development aid and peacebuilding. The most relevant feature of Portuguese policies concerning peacebuilding is, in fact, the absence of any autonomous importance allotted to peacebuilding. It only appears as a by-product of development aid policies. Within this historical context, the development of case-by-case strategies has been the dominant path followed by the government and civil society organisations (CSOs). Dramatic events unfolding in former colonies led to peacebuilding policies in the 1990s. This ad hoc rationale still prevails over any sort of organised strategy. Attempts to make a coherent choice on supporting peacebuilding and human security from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros, or MNE) and the Portuguese Institute for the Support of Development (IPAD), the governmental agency that supports international development policies, have been undermined by a lack of solid communication and coordination channels within governmental institutions and with Portuguese civil society. Above all, however, this support has been hindered by a lack of appropriate funding, which would have allowed for better practical results. In recent years, Portugal has made several pronouncements on development. A Strategic Vision for Portuguese Development Cooperation published in 2005, for instance, is understood by the government to be a seminal step in restructuring the country’s development policies.1 It is also meant to have an impact on the relevance of peacekeeping, human security, gender and security issues, and on the improvement of development aid tools. Nonetheless, the lack of appropriate funding is constraining the advancement of peacebuilding policies and Official Development Assistance (ODA), specifically the goal to reach EU ODA goals by 2015.2 With limited resources, priorities must be set, and ODA for countries with historical and linguistic ties to Portugal take precedence over all others. Historically, three cases led to this situation and to an emphasis on state-building, helping to mould the current aid and peace efforts as mostly directed to three Portuguese-speaking countries: Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Timor-Leste. Guinea-Bissau and Timor-Leste, together with São Tomé and Principe, are still regarded as fragile states and – like other former Portuguese colonies suffering from internal conflicts or the erosion of state power – display traces of continuity with the countries’ colonial past, with their imported Portuguese judicial systems and official institutional frameworks. 1 Portuguese Institute for the Support of Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (February 2006). A strategic vision for Portuguese development cooperation. Lisbon, Portugal: Textype. Available at http://www.ipad.mne.gov.pt/images/stories/Publicacoes/VisaoEstrategica,ing.pdf (English). 2 The EU made specific commitments to achieve the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, which included to: ‘set new intermediate targets for growth in official aid budgets by 2010 with a view to achieving the overall target of 0.7% of the gross national income (GNI) by 2015; speed up reforms that will improve the quality of aid; rethink the way that the EU, through its own model of sustainable development and its internal and external policies, influences
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